Its issue with balancing 4K monitors and lack of a USB Type-C port for adapters to use with older laptops mean that, while the dock is aiming to be future-proof, it's still a little hard to use today. The Dell WD15 Docking Station is a strong performer, once you get the right combination of monitors to get it up and running. The DisplayLink chip inside handled three monitors at once (via two HDMI cables and DVI), one of which output at full 4K. In this setup, we had similar experiences with typing and video watching.ĭue out later this spring, Plugable's $179 USB-C Triple Display Docking Station was far less fussy in our tests.
The alternative is to use just one display at 4K with the HDMI cable. That isn't something consumers should have to think about with their dock it should be plug and play. It powered monitors at 2560 x 1440, but not in tandem with either VGA or HDMI cables. No matter how I hooked up the monitors, the DisplayPort would only work on its own. I tried swapping out the VGA for a mini DisplayPort cable and found that it didn't play nice. The video was smooth, and I managed to type at my average rate of 100 wpm with a 2 percent error rate, and experienced no lag. I played some 4K video on the display while taking the typing test on the TV, and found that performance didn't stutter at all. Supporting the dock and monitors took just 3 percent of the CPU and 2.5GB of RAM with no programs running. We hooked up the WD15 to a Dell XPS 13 Gold Edition, a 1080p TV via HDMI and a 4K monitor via VGA at a resolution of 2048 x 1152. Instead, it employs USB Type-C's alternate mode to send a video signal directly from your GPU to the dock. Unlike most other universal docking stations, Dell's dock doesn't use DisplayLink technology. However, the WD15 couldn't support two 4K monitors, even at lower resolutions. We usually try our docks on dual 4K monitors, which downscale to a resolution supported by the dock. The dock can support either one 4K monitor or two full-HD monitors. When the WD15 worked, it worked well, but setup was finicky.
If your laptop doesn't have a USB Type-C port, you're out of luck. Without the USB-C port, I was unable to try using a USB Type-C-to-USB-Type-A adapter with an older laptop. I would have preferred a USB-C port and cable, like what Plugable offers. Most odd, though, is the decision to attach the DisplayPort over USB-C cable to the dock, which won't let users replace it if something happens to it. I wish that the mini DisplayPort were a full-size DisplayPort jack that didn't require an adapter, and I would have preferred having a DVI port to a VGA one, like Plugable's USB-C dock has.
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